Sports Briefs

AGENCIES

■BASEBALL

Death not the end for fans

Fans of the team that hasn’t won the World Series in 101 years now have a place where they can wait an eternity for a title if necessary. A red brick wall designed to resemble the one at Wrigley Field has been erected in a Chicago cemetery and is ready to accept the cremated remains of Cubs fans — inside US$800 Cubbie blue and white urns if they wish. Dedicated a few days ago, the wall with its stained-glass scoreboard has what Fans Forever president Dennis Mascari likes to call “skyboxes” to accommodate 288 “season-ticket holders.” There are four seats from Wrigley where loved ones can sit and recall shared afternoons at the ballpark. There’s even a small patch of lawn that Mascari said he snagged outside Wrigley when the team dumped it there after tearing it out to replace it.

■BASKETBALL

Natt told to scat

The Sacramento Kings fired interim coach Kenny Natt and his four assistants on Thursday, a week after the club finished with the NBA’s worst record. The Kings, once a model of stability during eight consecutive winning seasons and playoff appearances under coach Rick Adelman, will be looking for their fourth coach since Adelman was fired in 2006 by owners Joe and Gavin Maloof.

■DIVING

Bullies harass ‘Speedo boy’

British schoolboy diver Tom Daley, one of the country’s top medal hopes for the 2012 Olympic Games, is being bullied because of his high profile and may have to change schools, his father said on Thursday. The 14-year-old from Plymouth, southwest England, finished seventh in last year’s Beijing Olympics. But his father Rob Daley said he was considering moving his son to another school because of constant jibes and “childish name-calling and antics” by fellow students. Tom said the bullying had become increasingly worse. “I’d always ignored the ‘diver boy’ or ‘Speedo boy’ comments when I came back from Beijing last year, hoping they’d get fed up and stop,” he said. “The trouble is they haven’t, and it’s even the younger kids who are joining in. It’s getting to the stage now where I think ‘Oh, to hell with it. I don’t want to go back to school.’”

■HORSE RACING

Pharmacy flaw killed horses

A Florida pharmacy that mixed medication for 21 polo horses before they mysteriously died over the weekend said on Thursday it incorrectly mixed the substance, the Palm Beach Post reported online. The horses died shortly before a quarter-finals match was to begin last Sunday at the 105th US Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida. In a related development, the compound biodyl, a vitamin supplement that is banned in the US, emerged as a possible suspect in the horses’ collapse. The medicine is mentioned in a letter from a lawyer to the polo team’s veterinarian quoted in the report. Jennifer Beckett, chief operations officer for Franck’s Pharmacy, said in a statement that an internal investigation showed the incorrect strength of one medication had been used. She did not name the medication or the flawed ingredient.

■SWIMMING

Bernard breaks record

Alain Bernard of France broke the world record in the 100m freestyle at the French championships in Montpellier on Thursday, becoming the first swimmer to go under the 47-second mark. Bernard won his semi-final race in 46.94 seconds, beating Australian swimmer Eamon Sullivan’s mark of 47.05 set during the Olympics last year.

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